


Ain't No Passing Craze

by TaleasOldasTimeandSpace



Series: Yet Another Gratuitously Fluffy Darcyland Soulmate AU [25]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Balrog the Bilgesnipe, Crack, Darcyland (Marvel), F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, I don't know what you're implying, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Steve Rogers: Confused Marshmallow Trying His Best strikes again, and the coffee Clint smuggles him, it's written from a purely impartial and unbiased standpoint, this is no way a vehicle for the author to express her feelings on the new Lion King, who is just there for the pancakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 21:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20346733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace/pseuds/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace
Summary: Steve and Darcy are old friends.  They hang out all the time.  They're certainly not soulmates.Right?





	Ain't No Passing Craze

**Author's Note:**

> This one's for [kallianacorus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallianacorus/pseuds/kallianacorus), who said:
> 
> Steve's soul mark is just a long rant about how amazing The Lion King is (I mean, it's Hamlet but with lions) and how much of a travesty it is that he STILL HASNT SEEN IT...  
I'm not sure if Steve would secretly watch it but pretend he hasn't, or wait because he wants to watch it for the first time with his soulmate...
> 
> Thanks for the prompt! Hope you enjoy :)

Movie nights were something of a sacred tradition in the Tower. Provided the world wasn’t in immediate need of saving, any Avenger in residence would assemble in the common room, spend an hour arguing about what to watch (until Darcy, with much exasperation, instituted a rotation system), and settle in with an unholy amount of junk food for the evening. Over time, significant others and immediate support staff trickled in as well, until the audience numbered a minimum of twelve on any given night and averaged about twenty. On one memorable night, Fury showed up and gave thirty-five people recurring nightmares about man-eating plants by making them all watch _ Day of the Triffids_.

There were a few unspoken rules of Movie Night:

  * If you didn’t like the movie, you were welcome to leave. 
  * Unsolicited commentary, reciting dialogue, and heckling the onscreen characters was strictly encouraged—Movie Night was a participation sport.
  * If you started a food fight, you were responsible for clean-up. 
  * Darcy and Balrog always got the corner seat/ottoman set. 
  * Newbies always chose the movie their first night, and afterwards were added to the rotation.
  * And Steve Rogers never, ever, came to Movie Night.

* * *

He didn’t do it on purpose. He _ wanted _ to go. He _ liked _ spending time with the other Tower residents (or goblin squatters, as Tony called them), and he always enjoyed movies. Back when he was a kid, going to the movies (when he and Bucky had the money) was one of the few things he could do without seriously risking his health. 

Not that his health ever stopped him from _ trying _ to do other things, but that was beside the point. 

For one reason or another, though, it seemed like he always had things come up on Movie Night, until everyone simply assumed he wasn’t interested. By the time he could actually make it, people had stopped inviting him, and while he _ knew _ nobody would care if he just showed up, the idea felt awkward. Like waiting too long to return a text, until you’re left desperately hoping the person who sent it has forgotten the whole thing and doesn’t in fact feel slighted and abandoned by your tendency towards procrastination.

Not that he’d ever done anything like _ that, _ either.

He tried to keep up by watching the movies by himself in his apartment, but it wasn’t the same. And he knew he was being ridiculous, but at this point there didn’t seem like there were any options but to carry on as usual, locked into an endless cycle of Watching the Socialization and Fun from Afar. Yes, he was being dramatic, and no, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

Breakfast saw the usual pre-Movie Night debate of what the evening's entertainment would be. Some liked to keep their selection quiet until the last possible moment, while others didn’t care who knew. Tonight it was Tony’s turn to choose, and since the man was incapable of keeping a secret (_I am Iron Man, _ anyone?), the whole tower knew that they would be watching the new _ Lion King _ tonight. A choice for which Darcy was giving him no end of grief.

‘I can’t believe your lack of taste, Tony,’ she said, jabbing a disapproving fork in his direction. ‘Wait, actually I can.’

‘Hey!’

She plowed on, ignoring his protest. ‘Anyone who would put sugar water on their pancakes instead of good, honest maple syrup would of course think a soulless remake is in any way comparable to the iconic original.’

Tony pulled his personal bottle of Log Cabin close. ‘I like the taste better,’ he said defensively. ‘And what do you have against live action remakes?’

‘IT’S NOT LIVE ACTION!’ her shout made Clint, who’d been dozing at the end of the counter, fall off his barstool with a clatter and a muffled _ I’m awake! _ ‘It’s just another form of animation, without any of the charm! Honestly, of all the Disney remakes, this one is the most pointless.’

‘Have you even _ seen _ it?’ Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘I’ve seen clips, and that was scarring enough, thank you very much,’ she declared loftily.

‘Might I remind you,’ his voice dripped with exquisite patience, ‘that, by your own rules, I am entitled to stand by my choice of movie, and you are free to skip it if you feel that strongly about it.’

Darcy shook her head with the air of a martyr about to face the lions in the Colosseum. ‘No, I have to go. Nobody else is going to keep you jokers in line. Besides, if I don’t, some upstart might get designs on my corner seat.’

‘No one would dare encroach on the domain of the Terror of the Tower.’

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Are you referring to me or Balrog?’

‘Yes.’

She bobbed a curtsy. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome. Why don’t we get a second opinion on this?’ Tony turned to Clint. ‘What do you think about the new _ Lion King?’ _

‘Leave me out of it,’ Clint said as he attempted to make his way over to the coffee pot by doing the Worm across the kitchen floor. ‘I’m just there for the snacks. And to make people watch every archery movie ever made.’ Darcy shook her head as she filled the mug he held up. ‘Much obliged. Peace out, my dudes.’ Without getting up or spilling a drop of coffee, he slithered over to the couches, where he propped himself against a drowsy Balrog and proceeded to nurse his mug in peace.

‘Right.’ Tony’s voice drew them back from staring at Clint in varying degrees of bewilderment. ‘Somebody else, then. Rhodey, buddy, back me up here.’

‘Aw, c’mon, Tony, you know I don’t like cartoons.’ Rhodey stuffed half a pancake in his mouth before Tony could bully him into a helpful opinion.

‘Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal. What about you Wilson?’

Sam shrugged. ‘As far as singing animal movies go, I’ve always preferred _ An American Tail.’ _

Darcy dissolved into helpless giggles while Tony banged his head on the counter. ‘That’s not even a Disney movie!’ he wailed.

‘You didn’t specify.’

‘Fine, I’ll admit that one’s on me. Cap? What about you?’

Steve had rather felt like he was watching a ping-pong match, and being confronted with the expectant eyes of Tony _ and _ Darcy was almost enough to make him fall off his own stool. Almost. He managed to cover by taking inordinate interest in the coffee swirling in his mug. ‘I dunno. I haven’t seen either one.’

Darcy set her fork down with a decisive _ clink_. _‘What.’ _

He shrugged and opened his mouth, but her pause had been for Effect and not to give him a chance to reply.

_ ‘No. Uh-uh. This is absolutely unacceptable. How? How on Earth, the Nine Realms, and the entirety of the multiverse have you never seen _ Lion King? _ Haven’t you ever noticed that yours is a dull, colourless existence? It’s _ Hamlet! HAMLET, _ Steve! With _ lions! _ Not to mention a truly phenomenal collection of songs, a catchphrase that reshaped the national psyche, and James Earl Jones in what is arguably his most iconic role since _ Star Wars! _ There was even a Broadway play, and while it obviously wasn’t quite as good as Beauty and the Beast, it was still excellent! I can understand that you wouldn’t have been able to see it before the whole, y’know, deep freeze incident, but you’ve been thawed out for YEARS, now! There is no excuse whatsoever for such gross neglect, such flagrant disregard of pop culture! Wipe that dopey smile off your face, Rogers! This is serious! What do you have to say for yourself?’ _

Somewhere between ‘entirety of the multiverse’ and ‘dull, colourless existence’ Steve realized that he and Darcy have never actually spoken to each other. They were _ around _ each other so much he’d just taken it for granted that they must have spoken at some point, but it was increasingly obvious that that was not, in fact, the case. Once it sunk in, it was utterly impossible to keep the smile from his face, dopey or otherwise. Darcy had been stalking toward him throughout her rant, until they were practically nose-to-nose. So it was the simplest thing in the world for him to cup her face in his hands and say, _ ‘I’ve never seen _ Lion King _ because I was waiting to watch it with you.’ _

Her jaw dropped. She looked so adorably poleaxed, he couldn’t resist leaning forward to plant a delicate kiss on the tip of her nose. Her eyes crossed to keep him in sight, but aside from a tiny squeak, she didn’t make a sound.

Tony punched his shoulder. ‘Congratulations, Steve. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who could render the Minion speechless.’

Darcy pointed a shaky finger at Tony without looking away from Steve. ‘Keep it up, Stark. I’m authorized to cancel you 4AM Inspiration Coffee.’

He gasped. ‘You wouldn’t _ dare. _ Besides, I have the override codes.’

‘Yeah, but JARVIS likes me best. Now shush. I’m trying to have moment here.’ She brought her hands up to circle Steve’s wrists. ‘How is it possible that this is the first time we’ve spoken to each other?’

He lifted a shoulder. ‘Beats me, but I’m glad we finally did.’

She smiled, wide and happy. ‘Oh, me too. But don’t think this gets you out of anything. You’re coming to Movie Night, and I can already tell you what we’ll be watching.’

‘There’s no place I’d rather be.’

‘Now, wait a minute, that’s not fair!’ Tony squawked. ‘It’s my turn!’

‘You know the rules, Tony,’ she said airily as she hopped off her stool and tucked her arm through Steve’s. ‘He’s the newbie, so he gets to pick. You can watch your CGI monstrosity next week. Now c’mon, Steve. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Clint!’ she yelled over her shoulder. ‘What have I told you about giving Balrog coffee? He’s going to vibrate right through the couch, and between that and the colour-changing he’s going to be a terrible distraction for Steve’s first time seeing _ Lion King!’ _

Clint’s hand appeared over the back of the couch, waving her off. ‘It was just one sip, Lewis, relax. Hakuna matata and all that jazz.’

‘Fine. But if the pair of you ruin his night, I’m confiscating your nights to pick. Now tell me, Steve,’ she said as they left the common room, ‘what’s your opinion on _ Lord of the Rings?’ _

He laughed, allowing himself to be tugged along. ‘Love the books, never seen the movies.’

‘Well, now I know what we’ll be watching next.’ She grinned up at him, waggling her eyebrows.

‘I can’t wait.’

**Author's Note:**

> Steve didn't go to that first Movie Night because the pick was Lion King, and he's a hopeless romantic sap. Little did he realize that he would have been watching it with his soulmate *waggles eyebrows*
> 
> Steve is now the only one allowed to share the corner couch with Darcy and Balrog. They're accused of favouritism, which is perfectly accurate. They do not care.
> 
> Due to the efforts of Tony and other Middle Earth unenthusiasts, Darcy is limited to one LOTR/Hobbit movie per movie pick. She thinks this is grossly unfair.
> 
> As always, you can leave a prompt below, or [shoot the breeze](https://taleasoldastime-andspace.tumblr.com/ask) on Tumblr! No smut, slash, or polyships, please and thank you.
> 
> Namarie, my little bilgesnipes!


End file.
